Artistic Approach

Straw as paint

Straw marquetry is often associated first and foremost with furniture. Boxes, screens and chests of drawers: since the seventeenth century, straw has been used to cover, embellish and transform objects. I have chosen to take the material in another direction. In my studio, straw does not merely clothe objects; it becomes the subject in its own right. Each panel is conceived for the wall: autonomous, complete and freed from any utilitarian function.

What interests me is the moment when straw ceases to clothe an object and becomes the work itself.

Three expressions, one signature

My work unfolds across three distinct expressions. Furniture and decorative objects — trays, mirrors and small occasional pieces — anchor the practice in the long French tradition of decorative arts, giving straw the tactile dimension of an object made to be used. Geometric compositions draw directly on the Art Deco aesthetic, using the material’s natural lustre to create reflections that shift with the viewer’s position. Finally, portraits — animal heads such as the lion and fox, as well as female figures — are constructed through geometric pattern and form the heart of the studio’s signature. Here, precision of drawing, a sense of composition and the patience of the hand come together most fully.

The hand and patience

Every panel is made entirely by hand, without motorised tools. The bone folder flattens and burnishes each strand; the scalpel cuts it; the brush applies the adhesive. On the finest patterns, progress may amount to only a few square centimetres a day. This deliberate slowness gives each finished work its density — and ensures that no two panels are ever alike.

Materials in dialogue

Natural and dyed straw is occasionally paired with other materials — leather or gold leaf. These combinations remain rare and are always dictated by the work itself, never by effect alone. Straw remains the principal material.

French material, short supply chain

The studio uses only French rye straw, sourced from a single grain grower. Working with this material also means choosing a short supply chain, a craft rooted in place and a natural resource whose lustre — created by the silica absorbed by the plant as it grows — requires no varnish to reveal its beauty.